Life’s often in the details. But when it comes to how the average Canadian would define “basic” medical care, it’s a safe bet that life-saving cancer treatments would fit the bill.

Someone who might disagree: Citizenship and Immigration Minister Jason Kenney. It was, after all, Mr. Kenney who assured Canadians last spring that, under reforms enacted by his government, while refugees in Canada would no longer receive extended health-care services on the government’s dime, they’d still get “comprehensive, first rate” basic care.

And it is also his government that denied chemotherapy to a man who claimed refugee status on grounds of religious persecution.

The refugee, who has requested anonymity to protect family members still abroad, arrived in Saskatchewan several months ago, from an unspecified Middle Eastern nation. As a Christian, he claimed that he was in danger if he remained in his home country. But once in Canada, he fell ill, and was diagnosed with cancer. He began chemotherapy in a Saskatoon hospital.

That’s when things get interesting: The federal government declined to pay for chemotherapy through its Interim Federal Health Program (IFHP), which covers those in the country legally who do not yet qualify for provincial or territorial benefits.

And no one seems to know why. Saskatchewan Health Minister Dustin Duncan, who announced that the province would pay for the man’s chemo treatments, has complained that Ottawa’s rules lack clarity regarding what will and will not be covered. Pressed on the issue in the House of Commons on Friday, Mr. Kenney only stated that someone whose application for refugee status hasn’t been approved isn’t yet a refugee. His ministry declined to comment on the legal status of the man undergoing treatment.

Let’s be clear about one thing — the man should be treated. Given that it can take Canada three years to process a refugee application (with roughly 40% of applications eventually being approved), it’s insane to suggest that someone who may well be fleeing for their lives should exist in a state of medical limbo while Ottawa bureaucrats get their paperwork sorted out.

That’s another good reason — as if more were needed — to continue streamlining our refugee application processes. Three years is too long to wait even if the applicants are healthy as a horse. The sooner we kick out illegitimate refugees and get started on integrating genuine ones into our society, the better off Canada will be.

Unless the government can prove his motives were dishonourable, it should treat him as a person who may need our shelter in the long term, and certainly needs our help now

There’s a bigger issue here. Ottawa may not be under any legal obligation to pay for this man’s chemotherapy, but Canada does have a moral obligation to care for those we have let into our country, even if only temporarily. If this man got cancer and flew here to declare refugee status as a backdoor way to claim benefits, that’s different. His story of persecution, however, is plausible, and his illness was discovered after he arrived in Canada.

Unless the government can prove his motives were dishonourable, it should treat him as a person who may need our shelter in the long term, and certainly needs our help now. If it turns out he scammed us in the long run, yes, we’ll have spent money. But we’ll have spent it in good faith to save a life. I can live with that.

This is a particularly bizarre issue given how avoidable it was. When Mr. Kenney announced that the government would be changing the IFHP plan last fall, to remove coverage that most Canadian citizens don’t receive on the government’s dime (such as eye and dental care), he faced backlash from advocacy groups, pundits and opposition members. In response, he repeatedly claimed that basic healthcare would not be withdrawn. What could be more basic than fighting a life threatening disease?

Many of the reforms Mr. Kenney has overseen at Citizenship and Immigration are worthy. And he has already moved to reduce the claims backlog. But he’s dropped the ball here. Going forward, the onus is on the federal government to clarify exactly what basic care means, and endure the justified backlash should fighting cancer not make the cut.

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